Tag Archives: money

UEFA take more than 1MILLION quid from the English TV money pot for scheduling fixtures on Champions League nights

PUBLISHED:

16:09 GMT, 26 April 2013

|

UPDATED:

16:21 GMT, 26 April 2013

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UEFA have taken more than a million pounds from the English clubs' pot of Champions League television money for scheduling domestic matches against the competition.

The 1.3million euro fine was imposed after UEFA's disciplinary panel found 'clashes relating to the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.'

The cash, which relates to 10 per cent of payments that were due to The Football Association in 2010-2011, was previously withheld.

Fine: UEFA have fined English clubs more than a million pounds for scheduling domestic matches against the Champions League. UEFA President Michel Platini stands with the trophy

Heartbreak: The fines relate to the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons. Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in the former, and Leo Messi (centre) broke Manchester United hearts at Wembley the following year

UEFA says the money will be spread among clubs in other countries, with the majority of it to be spent on youth training.

The FA have also been fined 50,000 euros (42,000) for their involvement.

English officials are said to have been repeatedly warned about league and cup matches clashing with the Champions League.

A UEFA statement said it will 'establish a working group, which will involve representatives of the FA, in order to avoid calendar clashes in future.'

Return of the Special One: Jose Mourinho (centre) returned to Stamford Bridge with Chelsea in 2010 – his Inter side went on to win the competition

One fixture that invoked UEFA's anger was Liverpool's 3-0 derby win in March 2012, the game Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick.

At the time the Premier League said that clashes are sometimes unavoidable and refused to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Speaking in April 2012, Dan Johnson, the Premier League's communications director, said: 'We have refused to sign the MOU because although we would never seek to go head-to-head with European games, sometimes it's inevitable.

'We don't believe Uefa have the right to say when domestic leagues can and can't schedule their fixtures, especially when Uefa have themselves increased the number of European nights by spreading out their match days and moving the Champions League final to a Saturday.'

Fixture clash: Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring a hat-trick against Everton in March 2012, a night when Champions League matches were taking place

But Sportsmail understands the forward, who is due to sign a four year deal with Norwich on July 1, has a clause in his contract that allows him to pull out of the move if the Norfolk club are relegated.

Van Wolfswinkel is a long-term target of Hughton, who will be desperate not to miss out on the 24-year-old.

After a worrying start to the season, the Canaries have managed to improve their form and currently sit in 14th place, four points off the drop zone.

But a poor end to the season could easily see them slump back into relegation trouble, which will leave Van Wolfswinkel's switch in jeopardy.

Back in March, the 24-year-old was impressed by Hughton during discussions and became convinced Norwich is a team with potential.

‘The club is in the middle of the table and very ambitious, this summer they will be debt free and will get on strong,’ Van Wolfswinkel told Dutch magazine Voetbal International in March.

‘I had a good talk with the manager, Chris Hughton. He was very specific about my qualities and wants to build a strong team around him. That gives good trust.

‘The plan is also to bring in an attacking midfielder and two wide players this summer. With that, Norwich can look to play in the top half of the table.’

Lacking up top: Robert Snodgrass (left) and Grant Holt (right) have just eleven goals between them all season

Hughton, who tried to sign 6ft 1in Van Wolfswinkel in January, wants more attacking options after having to deploy Grant Holt as a lone striker this season. Norwich have scored just 31 goals in 33 games, with top scorer Robert Snodgrass having netted just six times.

‘That a club would spend so much money, in these times, shows their faith in me,’ he said.

‘I have been to Norwich to look around and spoken to the manager and chief executive over their plans for the future. I don't know much about Norwich, but the city and the club surprised me – the stadium has 25,000 (capacity) and there are 5,000 fans on a waiting list for (season) tickets on top of that which shows the status of the club.’

We want her to bow out at the top! Aussie super-horse Black Caviar to retire after 25-race unbeaten run

PUBLISHED:

06:21 GMT, 17 April 2013

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UPDATED:

06:53 GMT, 17 April 2013

Unbeaten Australian mare Black Caviar will retire after winning 25 consecutive races, with her trainer Peter Moody admitting that the super sprinter 'has done everything we asked her to do.'

Moody, appearing at a news conference in front of Caulfield race track on Wednesday, where the six-year-old mare will make a farewell appearance for race patrons on Saturday, said he and the ownership group led by Neil Werrett had discussed Black Caviar's future over the past few days and 'we decided at lunch today' to announce her retirement.

Fond farewell: Black Caviar is paraded in front of the media with strapper Donna Fisher

Emotional: Trainer Peter Moody announces retirement of Black Caviar

Race team: Black Caviar and her connections at the press conference

'She has done everything we have asked her to do,' trainer Peter Moody said.

'We
thought long and hard about racing on but believe she has done
everything we asked of her and felt it was the right time to call time
on her wonderful career.

'She's in great shape and that's the way we wanted her to bow out. We just thought the time was right – it was a hard decision.

'She brought interest to our sport that hasn't been there for decades.'

Black Caviar, purchased by Moody for
$225,000, won $8 million in prize money, including an Australian-record
15 Group One wins, most over distances around 1,200 meters.

She'll now have some time being spelled in a paddock before being bred.

'We hope that in three years, Peter
Moody will be training a progeny of Black Caviar,' said Werrett, his
voice breaking at times during the retirement announcement.

Black Caviar, ridden by her regular
jockey Luke Nolen, won her 25th race last Friday in the T.J. Smith
Stakes at Royal Randwick by two lengths. It was the sprinter's third win
since coming back in February from an eight-month injury layoff.

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Rangers star duped into admitting he's only at Ibrox 'for the money' in astonishing 23-minute phonecall to prankster Glasgow cabbie (who just happens to be a Celtic fan!)
Listen to full recording of telephone conversation hereFrancisco Sandaza admits he'd be keen on big-money US moveSpanish striker candidly reveals his 4.5k-a-week salary detailsBut star pleads with fictional agent not to alert club to plansPrankster named Tommy has caught out Scottish football figures before

Rangers striker Francisco Sandaza has apparently been tricked by a Glasgow taxi driver into admitting he only moved to Ibrox for the money.

In a phone conversation, which was recorded for 23 minutes, Sandaza revealed details of his salary to a cabbie named Tommy, who was posing as a Los Angeles-based agent. The taxi driver is a known prankster, who has duped footballers before.

The Spaniard also complains at the standard of football in Division Three claiming: 'I didn’t sign for the level, I signed for the money. I’ll get another contract after Rangers.'

Scroll down to listen to the full recording…

Bad call: Francisco Sandaza has been tricked by a Celtic supporter posing as an agent working in Los Angeles

Celtic supporter Tommy – who has never revealed his surname – was pretending to be middle-man Jack McGonigle, has previously tricked disgraced former Rangers owner Craig Whyte and ex-SFA chief executive David Taylor, now a senior UEFA official.

Sandaza tells the prankster he is on 4,500 a week for the first season of his four-year deal which goes up to 10,000 in the final year. By that time the Ibrox club would expect to be back in the top flight of Scottish football.

The 28-year-old striker, who believed 'McGonigle' was approaching him about a move to Major League Soccer in the United States, admitted he would quit Ibrox for a better deal but insists he does not want the club to know about the conversation.

He says: 'Do not do it officially through the club. Send me the contract first. I don’t want trouble if Rangers find out about this.'

Sandaza signed for Rangers from St Johnstone last summer. He has also played for Dundee United.

In the Red! Liverpool debt rises to 87.2million… and instalments on Downing and Henderson transfers are to blame

– a restructured period designed to bring alignment with the football season.

However, the loss was less than the 49.3million made the previous year and done against the backdrop of no European football, although Liverpool did get to two cup finals, winning one.

Some of the deficit was as a result of investing heavily in the transfer market – and the costs associated with bringing in the likes of Stewart Downing (20million) and Jordan Henderson (16million) in the weeks preceding the accounting period – while offloading other players at a loss.

But with the club's owners Fenway
Sports Group firmly focused on the impending arrival of Financial Fair
Play Ayre stressed there was necessary work to be undertaken.

'The key message for me is that we are
continuing to transition to the point we have been working on for
several years under this ownership – which is to continue to improve
revenues and manage our cost base effectively,' he said.

'The biggest cost base without doubt
is player trading and player wages – but these accounts demonstrate that
we are still working hard to improve that.

'I take comfort in the fact that the
work we have done, some of which costs us a lot of money in this period
and beyond, looks pretty painful at the time.

'But as long as you invest in it and
manage it in the right way, then hopefully it bears fruit as we go
forward and gives us a better platform to exist on in a different
environment and in a world where we are expected to break even.

'You never take comfort from any business that makes a loss but I am pleased that we're making the progress we are making.'

In the period relating to these
accounts the club offloaded 11 players, including the likes of Milan
Jovanovic, Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles – all signings by
previous managers.

The then boss Kenny Dalglish – the
cost of whose sacking last May was included in 9.5million of 'exceptional payments' – wanted reinforcements for his squad and that
meant players had to be moved on to make room.

Contribution: Henderson has scored three goals for Liverpool this season

Reassurance: Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre

Boss: Liverpool owner John W Henry

CAN'T SCORE STREET

Downing had a well-documented goal drought at Anfield, and his Wikipedia page was hacked to reflect that.

'We see a big charge within the
accounts for amortisation (depreciation in value) of players that have
been disposed of within the period that perhaps came in on a higher
cost,' Ayre told the Liverpool Echo.

'We've made losses as a result of
selling them but at the same time we've improved our longer-term
position in terms of our wage bill by reducing the wages for those
particular contracts.

'These accounts show investment in the
squad – players like Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates – and as we have
seen in accounts that flow from that – we will continue to invest in
the squad both for improved playing performance but also a far better
structure in deals that we have with players.

'So we are fortunate in some sense in that we know we are improving in this year and we are continuing to improve.'

In addition to transfer-related costs
captain Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez were among five players who
signed new contracts during the accounting period, since the end of
which FSG have injected 46.8million via a non-interest bearing
intercompany loan.

Turnover increased by 5million but so did wages, with the salary bill now around 142million or 70 per cent of income.

Out of the big league: Liverpool have not played in the Champions League since being eliminated from the group stage in 2009 and this will have affected their financial situation

'It's good to see that even in a year
where we have a downturn in fortunes by not playing European football,
we can bolster our revenues by performing in other areas,' added Ayre.

'It shows that we have a very strong and growing business that sits behind the football club.

'And as we approach things like Financial Fair Play and that type of environment, that puts us in a very strong position.'

The figures do not include the record
25million-a-season six-year sponsorship deal with kit manufacturers
Warrior, which came into effect last summer and could net the club a
similar amount through associated merchandising.

'We've had record sales of their products throughout this year,' said Ayre.

'We've also seen new sponsors come on board, notably Chevrolet and Garuda Airlines.

'If you have got a successfully
performing team and you have got an infrastructure which we now have and
the business ability to deliver revenue, then both of them coming
together would be a fantastic solution for the football club all round.'

We'll bid record 1.5bn for Arsenal (twice as much as the Glazers paid for United)… but they MUST finish top four, say Arab consortium

By
Dave Wood

PUBLISHED:

22:32 GMT, 2 March 2013

|

UPDATED:

10:48 GMT, 3 March 2013

Arsenal's eagerly-anticipated north London derby with Tottenham on Sunday was given an added edge with reports that a Middle East consortium will launch a 1.5billion takeover bid for the club in the next few weeks.

The group, made up of investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, hope to tempt owner Stan Kroenke with the world record sum, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

But the group warned that Arsenal, currently fifth in the Premier League and three points behind fourth-placed Spurs, must act quickly amid fears that the club miss out on a Champions League place and fall into a cycle of decline like Liverpool.

Money talks: World record takeover would put Arsenal in the same financial league as Manchester City and PSG

Prize asset: Arsenal's Jack Wilshere

American Kroenke is the club's majority shareholder, while Uzbek Alisher Usmanov also holds a significant stake.

The offer for Arsenal would reportedly see the potential investors bid around 20,000 per share, making Kroenke's holding worth 830m.

It would be the world’s biggest ever bid for a football club, dwarfing the 800m paid by the Glazers for Manchester United.

A meeting has already been reportedly been requested with the American to discuss the proposed
offer. The seriousness of the bid is reinforced by the recent successful
takeovers of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain by Middle East backers.

It is unlikely Usmanov will want to sell his shareholding, given his 'dream' of taking control of Arsenal himself, but the Middle East consortium
believes it will be able to work with the billionaire, who does not
currently have a seat on the board.

Any takeover would inevitably raise questions over the future of manager
Arsene Wenger but the Frenchman is understood to be highly-regarded by
the consortium.

A bid source was quoted as saying: 'Arsenal is at a pivotal position at
the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline like
Liverpool. From our point of view it is the perfect moment to make this bid
because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this
extraordinary valuation on the club.

'We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will
not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed and will not get
this kind of valuation ever again.

'The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive
within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any
higher.'

Arsenal are sitting on whopping 120m in the bank… so why did they only spend 8.5m on a full back in January as their rivals left them behind

.

The club, who are under increased pressure from fans to start competing in the transfer market, also showed that money was made on player sales once again, despite including the extra funds used to improve the contracts of Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and others.

The news will receive mixed reviews from fans who are growing impatient at the lack of ambition shown in the market.

Show me the money: Arsenal have released their financial figures to show they turned a profit once again

Arsenal were off the pace in the battle for fourth when the January transfer window opened, yet they waited until the final hours to strengthen their squad, only then spending a minimal 8.5m on left back Nacho Monreal.

The lack of action came after a summer in which the club sold their captain, Robin van Persie, to Manchester United for 24m.

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood
said: 'Our ability to compete at the top of the game here and in Europe
is underpinned by our financial performance which gives the club
strength and independence.

'Our desire is to make everyone
connected with Arsenal proud of the club. We know that comes through
winning trophies but also through the way we do things and that will
remain our constant guide.'

The financial report states the that
'profit on sale of player registrations amounted to 42.5m' – down
from 63m in 2011 but still a cause of concern to those fans who
believe Arsenal have not replaced players such as van Persie and before
him Cesc Fabregas by those of similar quality.

Hill-Wood insisted, however, that was not the case.

He added in a statement: 'Let me be
quite clear that our intention is to keep our best players and recruit
new talent to make us stronger.

'Although we were disappointed to see Van Persie leave the club, we have taken steps to secure our best
players going forward and have recently signed Jack Wilshere, Theo
Walcott, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl
Jenkinson to new long-term contracts.

'During this financial period we also
invested 40.9m in the acquisition of new players, Lukas
Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud, and the extension of other
player contracts. More recently we added Nacho Monreal to our ranks from
Malaga.'

Solitary buy: Monreal (left) was Arsenal's only purchase in January

Boost: Arsenal improved the deals of six homegrown players this season, but still turned profit

Feeling the heat: Arsene Wenger

Hill-Wood said that the Premier
League club's agreement to bring in financial fair play-style spending
controls would help Arsenal.

He said: 'These new rules will be good for us, good for the Premier League and good for the game as a whole.

'It is important that we maintain the
quality and level of competition if the game is to continue being a
compelling spectacle and we believe the introduction of tighter
financial regulation will assist all clubs to compete while remaining
financially responsible.'

Arsenal's football turnover dropped
from 113.5m to 106m as a result of four fewer home
fixtures compared to the same period last year.

The report also
confirmed an extended partnership with Emirates which will be worth up
to 150m.

Hill-Wood added: 'The Emirates
partnership is one of the biggest sponsorship deals in the game and is
an endorsement of the commercial approach we are taking.'

The figures are for the half year to the end of November 2012.

Protests: Arsenal fans have grown frustrated with a lack of spending compared with high ticket prices

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust (AST) said the figures highlighted the need for the club to spend more money on team strengthening.

An AST spokesman said: 'These figures contain few surprises. They show that Arsenal yet again made a profit from the sale of their best players and that the club has large cash reserves.

'Arsenal fans have contributed to this financial health through paying some of the highest ticket prices in world football. A further improvement in the club's financial strength is expected when new TV monies and commercial deals come on stream in 2013 and 2014. AST members want to see this money used for more, and better, investment in the team'.

Keane desperate for Lampard to ditch Chelsea and replace Beckham at LA Galaxy

By
Graeme Yorke

PUBLISHED:

00:22 GMT, 13 February 2013

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UPDATED:

08:05 GMT, 13 February 2013

Los Angeles Galaxy striker Robbie Keane is hoping Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will come in to replace former England captain David Beckham at the MLS club.

Galaxy have not yet replaced Beckham with another big-name, big-money player but they have been linked with England stalwart Lampard who looks likely to leave Chelsea when his contract expires at the end of the season.

'I am sure they have someone in the pipeline. I think it is important for the team to get big-name players in and if we get Frank it will be good – he's been on fire. Hopefully we can get him,' Ireland striker Keane said.

Cruising: Frank Lampard has been in great form for club and country, but looks set to leave Chelsea

Lampard, 34, has scored 10 goals in his last 15 games for club and country.

He netted in Chelsea's 4-1 victory over Wigan Athletic in the Premier League on Saturday and grabbed the winner in England's 2-1 friendly triumph over Brazil on Wednesday.

England manager Roy Hodgson said after the game that Lampard should stay in Europe to maintain his chances of playing in the 2014 World Cup.

The player has expressed a desire to prolong his 12-year stay at Chelsea.

An established international midfielder with an eye for goal is exactly the kind of player the Galaxy need, with their attempts to sign Brazilian Kaka from Real Madrid not having made any noticeable progress.

Keane said Beckham would be missed in the MLS after he joined Paris Saint-Germain last month.

The
37-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid player spent six
years with the Galaxy before he signed a five-month contract with PSG in
January.

The transfer, however, prompted suggestions it was a marketing or business-led deal.

'It's not really hard to understand,' said Keane. 'It's very simple, he loves playing the game.

'Why
would he not go to Paris They are top of the league, they have a great
manager (Carlo Ancelotti) who he knows very well after playing for him
on loan with AC Milan. It makes sense regardless of all the other stuff.

'People
are always going to question it because he is such a big figure but I
know him personally and I know he just loves playing the game. What's
wrong with that' added Keane.

Moving on: David Beckham was in Valencia to watch his new team Paris Saint-Germain in action